‘Education can play a vital role in pre-emptively tackling anti-LGBT attitudes’
Photograph: Tetra Images/Getty

What happened to Will Mayrick was undoubtedly a hate crime. Back in October, he was physically and verbally harassed on the London underground by two teenagers (aged 16 and 17) who forced him to apologise for being gay. This week, the two boys were sentenced to attend youth offender meetings for 12 months and pay £170 in compensation and costs.

For such a nasty, unprovoked attack motivated purely by Will’s sexuality, the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. The inadequacy of this sentencing highlights a wider problem with how anti-LGBT hate crimes are tackled. As it stands, not all hate crimes are treated equally under the law. Hate crimes based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity are not considered aggravated offences, meaning they carry a lower maximum sentence than racially or faith-motivated hate crime. This sends an extremely hurtful and damaging message that anti-LGBT attacks are less serious than those based on other factors. It’s something the government committed to addressing in its 2017 manifesto, and must deliver on.

However, Will’s case is not simply about the need for stronger sentencing or about sending two boys to jail. While the age of the perpetrators is no excuse for their hateful behaviour, there’s an opportunity to engage with how we can shift people’s views to stop these attacks from happening. Changing the law is only one part of the battle against anti-LGBT hate crime. It’s also about changing hearts and minds to make LGBT issues something that matters to everyone.

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Stonewall’s 2017 research shows that anti-LGBT hate crime is on the rise. The number of lesbian, gay and bi people in Britain who have experienced a hate crime or incident has increased by 78% over the last five years. If we want to build a society where everyone can feel safe and free to be themselves, we need to change the way people of all ages think about LGBT people and issues. Apologies are not enough. Being an ally is not just about saying the right things. The boys who attacked Will need to show they have learned from their actions, are aware of why what they did was so hurtful, and have taken steps to better understand the experiences of LGBT people.

Education can play a vital role here in preemptively tackling anti-LGBT attitudes. This is because how young people see themselves, each other and the world around them is shaped by what they learn about at school. If you have an education programme that doesn’t mention LGBT, it can do immense damage. Nearly half of LGBT pupils (45%) – including 64% of trans people – are bullied for being LGBT, and half hear homophobic slurs “frequently” or “often” in Britain’s schools.

When students are taught about diversity and learn to celebrate difference, they become accepting of those who are different from them. Which explains why, after the sentence was announced, Will said: “I can’t help but think if they had had some sort of LGBT education then the attack might never have happened.” Having a curriculum that includes LGBT people and their experiences is not only important for those students. An inclusive education can also play a significant role in eradicating anti-LGBT attitudes in young people and, later, preventing hate crimes such as this.

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As a charity, we work with primary and secondary schools across Britain to train and empower teachers to create an LGBT-inclusive curriculum and tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying. We also run programmes to enable people who don’t identify as LGBT to learn about the challenges they face and teach them how they can create an inclusive environment for everyone.

The horrific abuse Will experienced and the sentence that was given shows us that there is much more to do and that those issues won’t be resolved solely through changing the laws. Stronger sentences would act as a deterrent for many, but we also need to increase understanding and acceptance for LGBT people among the wider population.

If we want to live in a world where nobody faces harassment and discrimination for who they are, we need a judiciary and education system that treat LGBT identities and experiences equally with other aspects of a person’s identity. By challenging anti-LGBT attitudes at a young age, we can bring forward the day when everyone is accepted without exception.